Broadway Medians

The unique medians on Broadway, in the heart of Orangeville, tell the story of the municipality's emergence from a forested area and its development as an urban centre with the use of symbolic features.

The three medians in the middle of Broadway represent Orangeville’s evolution, from natural forest to a mill-based village to an urban centre. Designed by landscaping students at the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, the most easterly median, in front of the Town Hall, features a pergola at the west end, with stone columns and a white cedar roof structure. The most prominent feature is the statue of Orange Lawrence, the founder of the Town, created from magnesium phosphate. The 7.5-foot sculpture stands on a base and towers above street level to welcome those coming into Town. The statue, created by Grand Valley artists Donna Pascoe and Peter Turrell, shows the Town’s founder with his coat over his left shoulder, sleeves rolled up, and working plans in hand, symbolically ready to build his mill on Mill Street.

The central median features the clock tower. The clock was originally built and installed on the old post office in 1936 where it remained until the post office was demolished in 1963. The clock sat atop the Town Hall from 1980 to 1993 when the Town Hall was renovated. The marble timepiece weighs about 2,000 pounds.

The westerly median features a waterfall, with water falling in four directions representing the fact that Orangeville sits at the headwaters of four river systems. The design of the waterfall includes rougher features on the east and west faces so the water cascades more. The north and south sides, which are more exposed to the wind, have been designed to be smooth so the water clings to the wall better and minimizes spray on the roadway. The water goes into a pool at the base of the waterfall and is recirculated. Some water runs along a chute to the top of a symbolic waterwheel, representing the emergence of the mill and its energy source -- and the village that became Orangeville.